By Madeline Sattler, News Staff
As the Huskies took the ice for a doubleheader this weekend, the offensive lines were a little different than usual.
“We wanted to try to mix things up and get the lines going,” head coach Dave Flint said.
Northeastern faced off against Robert Morris University Friday night and came out with a 3-3 tie as the Colonials scored in the final minute of regulation. Saturday afternoon the Huskies shut out the Maine University Black Bears 3-0.
Senior forward Rachel Llanes moved up to the first line with senior forward Casey Pickett and sophomore forward Kendall Coyne in the deadlocked contest.
“Playing with Coyne and Pickett is something different, and they’re both speedy players who can get the job done,” Llanes said. “I just want help them out and work hard.”
All of the offensive lines were shaken up, something Flint said will continue in the future.
“I wanted to try to get all the lines going and I think we’ll stay with it for a bit and see how it goes,” he said.
It took a little time to get the scoring started on Saturday, but Coyne put the Huskies on the board with her third power play goal of the season at 4:27 in the second period. Llanes had the assist on the score, her fifth of the season. Coyne and Llanes are first and second on the team in scoring with 12 and seven points respectively.
“Rachel [Llanes] is obviously a great asset playing with me and Pickett,” Coyne said. “It’s just awesome playing with her because she’s so strong and so fast.”
The Huskies’ second goal of the afternoon came off the stick of senior forward Kelly Wallace at 15:15 in the second. Junior forwards Claire Santostefano and Katie MacSoreley assisted the score. The three forwards were also working together as a line for the first time this season.
Coyne added an empty net goal to seal the victory for the Huskies. Sophomore goalie Chloe Desjardins had 23 saves in her third shutout of the season.
The victory came after a close contest Friday night against Robert Morris University.
Coyne scored just 49 seconds into the game off an assist by junior defender Maggie DiMasi and Llanes.
Less than six minutes later Coyne doubled the score as Llanes won a faceoff and sent the puck central.
“We came out to a fast start,” Coyne said. “We had some line changes and I think people were excited about their new lines.”
The Colonials tied up with a late first period goal and another late in the middle frame.
The Huskies took back the lead early in the third period on a power play. Llanes scored as the puck rebounded off Colonials’ senior goalie Kristen DiCiocco. DiMassi and Pickett had the assist.
“Having a lot of shots means a lot of rebounds and it definitely changes the game,” DiMassi said.
With 47 seconds, the Colonials pulled Diococco for an extra attacker. Successfully, the Colonials were able to get one past Desjardins to tie up the game and force extra time.
“We’re still giving up more shots than I would like,” Flint said. “We need to learn to compete in our own end especially in front of our own net and I think if we can do that, we’re going to be all right.”
The Huskies only managed two shots on goal in the overtime period and extra time ended with the score tied at three.
Desjardins had 33 saves which tied her career high. After the weekend, the Quebec native was named Women’s Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week. This was the third time she has received the honor this season.
The Huskies and their new lines will be back in action this weekend as they take on the University Connecticut Huskies in a home-and-home series opening Friday night in Connecticut at 7 and continued Saturday at Matthews Arena at 3 p.m.
